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Treatment of Love, Marriage and Family in the Select Novels of

R. K. Narayan: A Brief Analysis
K. Mohan
Ph. D. Scholar
Department of English & Comparative Literature,
Madurai Kamaraj University,
MADURAI-21 (T.N)-India.

Received April 23, 2016 Accepted May 12, 2016

ABSTRACT This paper explores the vast corpus of R.K.Narayan’s writings and his treatment of
love, marriage and family. His novels are characterized by simplicity and gentle humour. His fiction
forms a wide canvas with a multi – faceted projection of marriage as the focal point of life. This article
aims at portraying Narayan’s treatment of love with it’s beauty and sordidness of human nature and
behavior and has delved deep into the psyche of man-woman relationship.

Key words: treatement of love.

R.K.Narayana, popularly known as the novelist of
Malgudi, having preserved the identity of his
fictional world both in body and spirit, has
acquired over the years a Universal character in
over half a century of creative writing. The
essential quality of Narayan’s portrayal of life is
Indian and he rarely exploits topicality or
contemporaneity as a thematic plank. His vision of
life is essentially comic-ironic, generally free from
satirical comment of moral attitude in life. His
contribution to Indian literature is purely
indigenous. The vast corpus of his writings is
nothing but a testimony to his Indian sensibility
deeply anchored in age-old traditions and still
responsive to current compulsive influences. He is
fully aware of the limitations of the range of his
portrayal of life, but “content like Jane Austen,
with his little bit of ivory, just so many inches
wide” (Iyengar 360). Portrayal of all roots of life
and family is considered by him as an essential
condition of good writing. He says, “To be a good
writer anywhere, you must have roots-both in
religion and family I have three things, I am
rooted to the right triangle of Madras, Mysore and
Coimbatore, none of them much more than a
couple of hundred miles distant from the
others”(Mehta)
Narayan’s novels are characterized by Chekhovian
simplicity and gentle humour. He told stories of
simple folks trying to live their simple lives in a
changing world. The characters in his novels are
very ordinary, down-to-earth Indians trying to
blend tradition with modernism. A variegated
Research Paper IJRAR- International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews
pattern of life, encompassing human relationship
of various shades-romantic, marital, paternal, and
fraternal and so on-provides the canvas of this
world. “The family is the immediate context in
which his sensibility operates, and his novels are
remarkable for the subtlety and conviction with
which family relationships are treated-that of son
and parents and brother in The Bachelor of Arts,
of husband and wife, father and daughter in The
English Teacher, of father and son in The
Financial Expert and of grandmother and
grandson in Waiting for the Mahatma” (Walsh
54) To this may be added-of father and son, again,
in The Vendor of Sweets and aunt and nephew in
The Painter of Signs. He rarely attempted am
ambitious theme on a large canvas. For example,
Waiting for the Mahatma may be described as a
Gandhian novel thematically, but have also
Narayan’s focus is on the love-story of Sriram and
Bharati, a youthful pair.
Narayan’s portrayal of life, though circumscribed
physically, acquires an element of universality
mainly on account of its inherent philosophical
profundity of vision. It is all-embracing and
positive with no room for negation or rejection of
life. “Narayan’s greatest charm lies in making
Malgudi and its people and their values real for
us…..Narayan is neither a social pathologist nor a
social reformer. He accepts life in totality”
(Mukherjee 87). The middle class family life is the
focal of his projection. Within this framework, he
further narrows down to concentrate on the
themes of love and marriage. From his first ‘adult’
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novel namely The Bachelor of Arts to the latest,
it has remained the main thematic plank. The
Bachelor of Arts, The Dark Room, The English
Teacher, Mr.Sampath, The Financial Expert,
Waiting for the Mahatma, The Guide, The Man-
Eater of Malgudi, The Vendor of Sweets and
The Painter of Signs-all form a panoramic
cacalcade of projections of these perennially vital
themes on a fictional canvas.
No doubt, Narayan’s treatment of love and
marriage has various hues and shades-bright and
dark, sparkling and somber. It has the ardour of
infatuation and the euphoria of the illusion of love,
the passionate frenzy of a youthful yearning heart
and the intensity of married love. Chandran,
Krishnan, Ravi, Sriram, Raju and Raman are all
lovers in their characteristically individual ways.
Raju’s love for Rosie passes through the entire
gamut of this most primal of instincts and urges. It
begins with a consuming passion for the body,
grows into an overpowering possessiveness, and
finally dissolves in disillusionment. Krishnan’s
love for his wife Susila is the most lyrical
treatment of the ecstasy and agony of love. The
ecstasy of marital love terminates in the tragic
death of Susila. The cognate theme of marriage
receives an equally elaborate treatment in
Narayan’s novels. From The Bachelor of Arts to
The Painter of Signs, Narayan’s fiction forms a
wide canvas with a multi-faceted projection of
marriage as the focal point of family. Joys and
failure of marriage especially in the context of the
middle class Hindu family, receive apt treatment
in his novels. While The Bachelor of Arts deals
with the romantic infatuation and euphoria of
anticipated marital bliss, The Dark Room lays
focus on the dark side of marriage in the
traditional Indian perspective, which is a poignant
portrayal of gloom, despair and failure of
marriage where Savitri, the protagonist, is
projected as a silent suffering wife, almost an
archetypal victim of male chauvinism.
Waiting for the Mahatma is again redolent with
the fragrance of youthful romantic love. The
Guide is a major work of Narayan’s fiction where
the themes of love and marriage receive some
unsual treatment. With all its ardour and passion,
the love-relationship of Raju and Rosie is morally
flawed as it carries the stigma of adultery and
infidelity on the part of Rosie and that of
seduction and temptation on Raju’s part. The
married life of Rosie and Marco is a psychic study
of incompatibility in marriage. It is R.K.N’s second
elaborate and penetrative study of the failure of
marriage after The Dark Room.
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Though R.K.Narayan has taken up for treatment a
diversity of themes, love and marriage are said to
be undeniably the two most prominent and
recurrent themes projected in his fiction. The
theme essentially dealt with in The Bachelor of
Arts is nothing but the romantic illusions of youth
and their persistence in spite of lessons learned
from hard experience of life. The protagonist here
is Chandran, a young man “in his last year of
college and his first year of freedom” (Bachelor of
Arts) Chandran’s whole being is almost consumed
by the youthful frenzy of the passion of love. In
fact, it is not love but the passion of being in love,
its illusion, that overwhelms him. The theme of
love acquies some new colouring because of
Narayan’s treatment of it in its youthful rainbow
colours. Chandran’s imagination turns his
illusions increasingly colourful. He begings to
imagine the mental working of Malathi and seek
the inner recesses of her mind. “He had every
reason to believe that the girl had told her parents
she would marry Chandran and no one else. But
now could she know him or his name? Girls had a
knack of learning these things by a sort of sixth
sense. How splendid of her to speak out her mind
like this, brave girl” (79). Chandran’s love for
Malathi is, in fact, a mad passion of falling in the
delusion of love. Part-II of the novel further
develops and intensifies the aura of infatuation
and illusion of love. The passion of love knows no
barriers of reason and control. But in the case of
Chandran, it is not so much the passion of love as
its illusion that constitutes the thematic
significance of this part of the novel. Love which in
the beginning was an all-consuming passion turns
into a hollow unreality. Recapitulating his
experience before his friend Mohan, he goes to the
extreme, “He then explained his new philosophy,
which followed the devastating discovery that
love and friendship were the veriest illusion. He
explained that people married because their
sexual appetite had to be satisfied and there must
be somebody to manage the house. There was
nothing deeper than that in any man and woman
relationship” (P 123). The girl Susila is divine with
all the charm, beauty and enchantment of irony in
a sweetly delectable.
" For the rest of journy the music of the
word 'Susila' range in his ears. Susila, Susila
Susila. Her name, music, figure, face and
everything about her was divine. Susila, Susila
Malathi, not a spot beside susila. it was a
tongue twister; he wondered why people like
that name" (The Bachelor of Arts 162)
Chandran retuned "a new man, his mind full of
Susila, the sacred fire, of brilliant lights , music,
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gaiety adn laughter " (Greene IX). He remains a
romantic day -dreamer, still lost in a word of make
- believe. He is able to imagine all qualities
accomplishments and graces in Susila as he had
done earlier in Malathi. Narayan treats the theme
of romantic love in romantic, almost mocking
vain, it is free from any moral attitude. The
portrayal is clear and objective . The theme of
romantic love is not something new. Chendran in
his passionate ardour of first love, may well be
taken up as a re- incarnation of an Orlando, a
Romeo or a Ferdinand.
From the rainbow colours of romantic love to the
somber shades of martial incompatibility is a
sorrowfull transition which Narayan's Novel The
Dark Room Marks. This novel treats, in the
Indian perspective, the theme of martial
disharmony. From the world of romantic
infatuation and illusion of youth in The Bachelor
of Arts Narayan delvs deep into the psyche of
conjugal conflict and unhappiness." In The Dark
Room , Narayan tries to tell a serious tale of silent
suffering and temporary rebellion ending in
subject surrender ...The central theme here is
evidently the plight of the traditional Hindu
wife..." (Naik 18). The novelist’s chief thematic
concern in the novel relates to a realistic and
poignant portrayal of a traditional Hindu wifes
predicament . The discordant note of marital
incompatibility is struck on the very first page of
the novel. Ramani, the bullying , domineering and
unfeeling husband and father is responsible for
vitiating the atmosphere of an otherwise happy,
understanding and loving family. He is an
inveterate fault - finder and gambler. He finds
fault with everything , including food in the home
- " Ramani was eccentric and lawless in his taste"
Savitri, the ecentral character, finds herself
helplesss and powerless to do anything." There
were girls now a days who took charge of their
husbands the moment they were married; there
was her own friend Gangu who has absolutely
tethered up her poorman" (The Dark Room 6).
Savitri is miserable as a wife but she finds her joy
as a mother of three cheerful and loving children -
two daughters Sumati and Kamala and a son Babu.
Through the character of Janamma, Narayan
sketches the traditional uncomplaining Hindu
wife who accepts suffering as her destiny. With
chapter five opens a new disquieting chapter in
Savitri’s married life. The caddish and frivolous
Ramani gets an opportunity for extra -matrial
thrills when a fashionable and coquettish woman
Shanta Bai joins his office a probationer, His
Research Paper IJRAR- International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews
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IJRAR Impact Factor 3.215
craving for novelty and excitment makes him
mentally compare his simple devoted wife with
the glamorous Shanta Bai - " How well a simple
voile sari sat on he why couldn't one's wife dress
so attractively" (DR 72). The sensual charm of
Shanta Bai is made more tempting by her
coquettish mannerisms - "She tossed her head
now and then, slightly pouted her lips, and raised
her brows" Narayana presents in Shanta Bai a
contrast to Savitri. While Savitri is a home -
builder, Shanta Bai is a home -wrecker. She
represents the butterfly type of women character
in his novels. This novel treats a serious moral
aberration in the marital unfidelity of the husband
. This theme was again taken up by him in The
Guide . But the situation there is different. Ramani
ha no moral, emotional or physical compulsions to
justify his extra - martial affair while Rosie in The
Guide is almost pushed into it.
Savitri's act of leaving her home as a protest and
rebellion against Ramani's male chauvinism
marks the center point of th enovel. However, the
typical Indianness of the situation characterizes
Narayan's treatment of his protagonist . Savitri
locks the fiber of Nora. Savitri ruminates, " One
definite thing in life is fear . Fear, from the cradle
to furneral pyre, and even beyond that, fear of
torture in the otherworld. Afraid of a husband's
displeasures, and of the discomforts that might be
caused to him, morning to night and all night too"
(P116). Her long spell of introspection ends in a
sudden toppling into the sarayu. The concluding
part of the novel begins wioth the rescue of Savitri
by Mari, one of Narayanan's countless intresting
minor characters. His wife Ponni provides another
fact of married life. She has her technique of
handling an erring husband
"Keep the men under the rod, and they will
be alright. Show them that you care for them
and they will toe you up the treat you like
a dog " (192)
Bidding her good bye, Ponni gives Savitri her last
piece of advice," Remember , men are good
creatures but you mist never give way to them. Be
firm adn they will behave " (P192). Savitri
remains essentially a weak ordinary Indian
woman. Teh Characteristic Indianness of Savitri's
surrender to her accepted destiny is a touch of
realism in Narayan's view of life. She finally
declares," I can't keep away from my children and
my home."
Narayan regarded The Dark Room as “an early
testament of the women's Lib' Movement " (P119)
and it was described as a major work of fiction for
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the portrayal of the dark side of marriage. In the
words of C.D.Narasimhaiah, "One may without
loss skip the interveing Dark Room" (P 143).
A.N.Kaul goes to the extent of describeing it as a
'weak novel' this simply unfold story of age old
oppression of woman in the confines of marriage
is profound and poigant despite its short
commings" (P64). As for th etheme of love and
marriae, Narayan's treatment in the novel The
English Teacher is rather unmatched by any
other work of fiction. the texture of the novel is
delicate and redolent with the fragrance of love.
The uniqueness of his treatment of love and
marriage here in this novel emanates mainly from
the delicate fusion of the passion and purity of
weded love. Unlike Chandran, Krishnan is a
married youngman, father of a little girl. To him,
love is not a physical appetitle or obsessive
passion. It has acquired serenity, beauty and
tenderness of wedded love. The first hint of his
married life is delicately suggested throough his
wife's letter, " I knew the pale blue envelope from
my wife , who was in the habit of underlining the
anxious last the letter should go off to some othe
town" (The English Teacher 16)
The marital life of Krishnan and Susila is gradually
unfolded through countless little glimpse and
occurrences. The English Teaher is an unusual
novel, particularly in its treatment of the theme ,of
love and marriage. It possesses shades of the
emotion of love. The early part is filled with its
ecstasy, the middle with its agony and the last
with its fulfilment . It is notable for its richness
and intensity, Inspite of its obvious note of
improbability inthe second half of the novel, the
English Teacher is Naryanan's most lyrical
portrayal of love. Even the element of
improbability is made acceptable by the sheer
intensity of feeling, " Whether Narayan is actually
putting down his personal experience under a thin
disguise, or all this is a mere invention, there is an
artistic coherence in all that is written and a sense
of actuality, which is all that should matter from
the point of view of the novel" (Sundaram 55).
The English Teacher is indeed more than a work
of fiction , it is a deep emotional experience of the
poetry of conjugal love with the tears and smiles.
As far as the theme of love is concerned, it is
through the character of Ravi that one gets a
peculier fact of the passion of love. The theme of
marriage gets an elaborate treatment in the novel
Mr.Sampath . The family life of Srinivas provides
the usual middle class married life in which the
wife's greatest satisfaction is to feed her husband
well. The married life of Margayya has its
moments of joy as well as tension. There was not
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scope for courtship or premartial love in such a
relationship. The novel does not provide amy
elabrote or penetrative study of love and marriage
in relation to theprotagonist and other characters.
Margayya's family life is centerd on his dreams
about the future of his son . Most of the interaction
between wife and husband, whenever it occurs is
related to the mudane affairs of house-keeping or
ubbringing of Balu , their only child. The novel
waiting for the Mahatma , though Gandhian in
theme, has as its two main characters Sriram and
Bharati, a young pair of lovers. The novel has no
scope for treatment of marriage but the love
between Sriram and Bharati makes for an
engaging thematic intrest. Against the vast
background of the national struggle for freedom,
with the Mahatma occupying the centerstage. The
love story of Sriram and Bharati provides
moments of tenderness, romance,
disappointment, anguish and finally
consummation. The love story of Sriram and
Bharati is developed in a low key but it has its
moments of passion and sensuous charm. As a
story of two young lovers, it has redolence and
fervour," deliciously reminiscent of the jasmie -
filled days of conjugal bliss in Krishnan's life
before death claimed Susila. Chandran's romantic
passion for Malathi the 'optical communion affair -
also suggests itself for comparison" (Girla 137)
without being explicit, the author suggests
sensuality of a young female body. it prevents his
concept of love from becoming abstract or
platonic. In The Guide the kind of love developed
and projected is adulterous in the conventional
sense, yet it is invested with all the ardour and
intensity of emotion . Moving on various planes,
Narayan's treatment of love and marriage in The
Guide has an uncommon degree of complexity.
The twin theme of love and marriage is
introduced here. The theme of marital
incompatibility is effectively developed through
this pair. They are just not made for each other.
Narayan has skillfully built up the theme of
marital incompactability. The two characters,.
Marco and Rosie , are temperamentally poles
apart. Rosie has a Master's degree in Economics
but she belongs to a family traditionally dedicated
to the temples as dancers; " My mother ,
grandmother, and before her, her mother. Even as
a young girl, I danced in our village temple" (The
Guide 75). On th eother hand, Marco, a man of
high social standing her no family at all; he has
lived with his books adn papers. He is a total
failure as a husband . the Rosie - Marco story is a
projection of Narayan's treatment of failure in
marriage . The theme of love in th econtext of man
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women relationship finds a chequered and 2.
complex treatment through the pair of Raju and
Rosie. The love relationship between Raju and 3.
Rosie passes through a spectrum of human
emotional and deviations. It is passion and
infatuation, reminiscent of similar beginnings in
The Bachelor of Arts and Waiting for the
Mahatma. Raju begins as a cunning intriguer in 4.
seducing a married woman. The love relationship
of Raju and Rosie is doomed to fail but it has no
moral sanction. 5.
To conclude, Narayan's treatment of love and
marriage is a veritable kaleidoscope of human 6.
relationship. It projects both the beauty and
sordidness of human nature and behaviour.
Narayan's milieu as a writer of fiction is the 7.
family. In his novels , he has delved deep into the
psyche of man - woman relationship, 8.
encompassing the entire humanity.
Mehta, Ved. R.K.Narayan, The Illustrated Weekly
of India, Jan 23, 1972.
Walsh, William, “Nataraj and the Packet of
Saffron”, Reading in the Commonwealth
Literature
Oxford: OUP, 1973.
Mukherjee, Nirmal. “Some Aspects of the literary
Development of R. K. Narayan “The Anasthali
Patrika, 13 (1969).
Narayan, R.K. The Bachelor of Arts, Mysore:
Indian Thought Publications, 1987.
Naik, M.K. The Ironic Vision: A Study of the
Fiction of R. K. Narayan, New Delhi: Sterling
Publishes, 1983.
Narayan, R.K. My Days. London: Chatto & Windus,
1975.
Narasimhaiah, C.D. The Swan and the Eagle,
Simla: Indian Institute of Advanced Study, 1969.

References 9. Kaul, A.N. “R.K.Narayan and the East West Theme”,

Considerations ed. Meenakshi Mukherjee. New
1. Iyengar, K.R.S. Indian Writing in English, Delhi: Allied Publishers, 1977.
Bombay: Asia Publishing House,1973.
10. Sundaram, P.S. R.K.Narayan, New Delhi: Arnold
Heinemann, 1972.

Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently.

~ Henry Ford

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